Businessman close to Maduro was DEA informant, records show

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

58% :The Associated Press in November reported that Saab has held several meetings with U.S. law enforcement in his native Colombia as well as Europe.
53% : The details of Saab's outreach to U.S. law enforcement surfaced in a related case involving a University of Miami professor who served as an intermediary for payments Saab was making to his U.S. attorneys.
51% : Prosecutors a year ago had sought to keep secret those meetings with U.S. law enforcement out of concern for Saab's safety and that of his family, some of whom are still in Venezuela.
50% : New York-based David Rivkin, who was not present in court Wednesday, said the sole purpose of Saab's meetings with U.S. law enforcement officials was to clear his name and were undertaken with the "full knowledge and support" of Maduro's government.
48% : The stunning revelation was made public following a heated closed door hearing Wednesday in Miami federal court in which an attorney for Saab argued his family in Venezuela could be jailed or physically harmed by Maduro's government if his interactions with U.S. law enforcement became known.
48% : The Maduro government considers him a diplomat who was kidnapped during a refueling stop while on a humanitarian mission to Iran made more urgent by U.S. sanctions.
36% : But his contact with U.S. law enforcement ended abruptly after he missed a May 30, 2019 deadline to surrender to or face criminal charges, according to prosecutors.

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